


A Ring for a Scarf

by celticvampriss



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: F/M, Mild Blood and Gore, OC, jeankasa - Freeform, jeanmika, mild violence, slight AU, slight sasha/connie implied, springles - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-26
Updated: 2015-01-26
Packaged: 2018-03-09 03:12:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3234122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celticvampriss/pseuds/celticvampriss
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Jean glanced behind him, red fabric drifting away from Sasha's open fingers. It fluttered like a leaf, floating until the wind caught it and blew it away, toward the break in the trees up ahead." </p><p>It all started when Mikasa lost her scarf. </p><p>Jeankasa. Jean centric. Rated for T-ish for swearing (f*bombs.) Action heavy in the beginning. (Slightly AU, but set in Canonverse.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Ring for a Scarf

**Author's Note:**

> This is the edited version of a story I wrote on FF.net. You can read the completed story there of the same name and same username, but it will be before the edits. I will be updating that one with edits in the future, but can't right now. This story will be uploaded as I edit chapters.

Shit, this sucked. Every single time. It never got easier. But to Jean, the moment this got easy he knew he was truly lost. He wiped fresh, sizzling spray around on his cheek with a dirty sleeve, smearing it. He didn’t know what was his and what was titan, all the blood felt the same—warm and thick like hot syrup. The steam had stopped and it’d all congealed in brownish splatters over his jacket and pants. He wasn’t a clean freak, but this was fucking gross.

And far from over. His perch shook under his boots, leaves and twigs rustling together or falling completely. With all the commotion around him he’d barely had a second to clean out his eyes before he was moving again. Leaping and twirling on wires while the wind tousled his hair and stung his eyes. He saw Connie tagging one near the base of the neck with his tether, a five meter. While Connie’s arc brought him down a second titan was about to swipe him from the air like a fly.

Jean gritted his teeth against the pull of the cords as he altered directions mid-swing. His body spun and his neck was jarred. He swung up and sliced clean through three of five fingers before they could catch his squad mate. Connie soared free of obstruction and cut a gash into his target’s neck. Problem was, it wasn’t deep enough. The near miss had distracted Connie and made him hesitate before he could follow through on his attack. Jean met up with him on another high branch, two titans grasping for them. The one still had no fingers and left a trail of steam while the other was already healing its neck.

“Damn it. I almost got it.” Connie’s fists shook, his scraped knuckles straining on the hilt of his sword, but there wasn’t time to lament mistakes. If you survived, you moved on. Because there were always more to fight.

Jean was about to go down and finish the one with the missing fingers before it could recover, but a blur of a Survey Corps uniform, black hair, and a flash of scarlet stopped him mid fall. He had to swing wide, his boots ripping up bark as he slid down the trunk and got his bearings. Mikasa twirled, bent her back fluidly into a flip to escape the titan’s grasping hands and then swiped down hard, slicing the titan’s neck cleanly. The titan who’s neck had nearly been cut by Connie caught her scent and charged, but Jean was already moving. He landed on its outstretched arm and ran, then jumping to spear it’s eyes while Connie came up from behind and finished it.

His pride stung, but he was too in awe for it to hurt. The way she moved was a marvel, precision and control syncing with her reflexes and dexterity like this is what she’d always been built to do. He rejected the idea as soon as he had it, because if there was one thing he was damn sure, no one was built to do this. Especially her. She just happened to be really fucking good at it. Jean landed to catch his breath while he tried to get eyes on her position. _Does she ever let up?_ He used his hand to brush the sweat from the bridge of his nose then followed her. Mikasa was agile, but Jean could manipulate his gear just as effortlessly. He caught up to her, but trailed behind. Words rose to his mind, several different options that he never got the nerve to say before Mikasa banked sharply to avoid a tree.

Jean pulled back to avoid a collision and caught her attention. Mikasa’s eyes were stoic as she regarded him, her face otherwise neutral. He froze for the _smallest_ second and his side caught a thin branch he hadn’t noticed, shattering against his weight and spinning him in a clear circle from a single wire like a spider suddenly cut from it’s web. He grappled with the air, his back smacking hard against a trunk. His teeth braced for the sting that shuddered down his spine and he fell straight for the forest floor until he could get that second tether hooked and continue his momentum.

Connie was cackling behind him. He was panting now. His cheeks were burning worse than the damage to his side, which was sure to be a nice bruise.

“You’re supposed to go around the branches.” Connie said, but he stopped and made sure Jean was good to continue.

Jean’s eyes were storming as he poured his wounded ego into a glare, his flush rising right up to his ears. She had to have seen that. “Eat shit, Springer.”

He propelled forward again, nose flaring in suppressed annoyance. He was seething at his own stupidity and then that tiny voice in the back of his head rose up with a very casual _Eren wouldn’t have tripped._ Funny, how it always reminded him of Eren’s less than shortcomings whenever Mikasa was around.

He was seeing red by the time he caught up to their unit that broke from the main squad. Their unit was small, Captain Levi had taken Jaeger along with a few others on a different route and the rest of them had split where they could and taken separate paths with the expectation that they all converge on the other side of the woods. There were three titans pawing at their cluster of trees to get to the soldiers—they were just treats waiting on the top shelf until the stepladder arrived.

Jean reigned in his temper. He closed his eyes and took measured breaths. He couldn’t fight titans while seething. Rage was a sure way for him to pull some dumb mistake and then he’d be facing a lot worse than a bruised side and embarrassment. When he was calmer he surveyed the scene. He picked out everyone’s position and their relation to the grabby hands shredding bark with uneven nails below. He marked the direction they had to go and tried to get a read on how the trees were laid out for as far as he could see. Their whole squad was divided, units like this one striking out in haphazard directions. There was no time to sort soldiers, you went with whoever was closest.

Sasha was nearest his position. She tried to scale down the tree and defend, but was chased back up before she could achieve anything. Mikasa swung past his view again and his cheeks flared up instantly. It was pathetic how easily she could affect everything about him. His heart rate. His breathing. His blood. He wanted to feel ashamed, but he respected her too much to let himself be bothered. She was worth the admiration.

“ _Oh shit_.” The tree that held Jean shook violently, making him slip and cling to the trunk to keep from falling. A titan had rammed it, stepping back and throwing its shoulder into the tree. Jean hopped to another branch. The tree lurched again. He swung out on a tether in a wide circle to get himself behind it, but he didn’t get far. The titan turned too fast and had struck out at him, forcing him to change direction.

“No. I am _not_ letting another of you bastards get past me.” Jean kicked off again, arcing high and twisting in the air to fall just over the titan’s head. He hooked a line into its neck and slashed down fast and hard. Steam rose up into his face as he pushed backward with his feet on its shoulder blades to flip himself free as it fell. The titan hit the ground, shaking the earth, but Jean didn’t cheer. There was no celebration in a kill. Not when people like Mikasa were on their fourth.

Speaking of, Mikasa was rocketing past him again, moving with urgency. He watched her for a second before scanning backward along the path she’d taken. Four more titans had arrived. The rest of their group was following her lead, propelling through the trees as titans pursued. If someone sounded the alarm, Jean hadn’t heard it. He was the last of the unit to get his ass moving, but he maneuvered through the maze of branches with finesse this time, no distractions.

He was lagging behind. He sparred a few glances over his shoulder to check the titan’s progress. If he was calculating right, they’d be free of the woods in another couple miles. Hopefully, there’d be some reinforcements waiting. Jean closed the gap between him and the rest of the unit when everyone came to a sudden halt. More titans. Coming at them head on.

“They’re surrounding us.” Sasha screamed. Jean landed next to her. Her hands shook, but she tried to swallow her fear. “W—what do we do now?”

“We keep moving.” Jean said. Mikasa wasn’t far ahead and they were all positioned close enough to communicate.

“We move separately.” Mikasa was looking at him while she spoke, eyes steady as the breeze stirred her hair. “We’re harder to follow if we take separate paths.”

Jean nodded, appreciating that she seemed to be directing this at him—as if for confirmation. He added, “We should move in pairs. Spread out and then all converge on one point a mile or so down.”

Mikasa agreed. She accepted his plan. They were coordinating a plan together. It felt oddly natural. Jean’s chest swelled and his confidence soared. Mikasa tugged on the sleeve of the soldier nearest her and the two of them left together. Everyone assumed their pair was with the person closest to them. Jean looked sideways.

“Guess it’s you and me.” She said shyly, her attention focused on the titans getting closer.

Jean sighed. “You ready, Braus?”

Sasha straightened her back, drawing her hands up to her chest so her swords stuck up in the air on either side of her head. “Y—yep.”

“You’ll be fine.” Jean met her eyes. “We’re not fighting. Just flying. Stick close and keep your eyes on me if you have to. If something happens, scream.”

“Right.” She nodded. The titans had already scattered, confused on which pair to follow. Jean kept Sasha in his sight, moving in sync with her. It was easy to gain a rhythm and they were both comfortable using their gear. Sasha’s smile was returning, her worry giving way to the thrill of maneuvering.

“We’re almost through.” He called to her. He’d been trying to keep track of how far into the woods they’d gone and he knew they had to be reaching the edge soon. He’d just spotted a pair getting close to their position from the left when he heard Sasha scream behind him.

Pulling up short, Jean watched as Sasha was plucked from the air. Her leg pinched in the fingers of a titan. Sasha hacked with her swords, slicing through knuckles until her foot was free. She began to fall and she was too close to the ground to get a tether safely anchored in time. She hit the ground, bouncing once as her eyes pinched shut.

Jean was already flying in the titan’s line of sight. He called out. The titan seemed more interested in the easy prey on the forest floor. Sasha wasn’t moving. Jean sheathed his swords and held two fingers into his mouth, holding the sharp whistling note until the titan changed course. Now it was coming for _him_. Jean took out his swords again. He tried to check on Sasha, but now his concentration was fully held in dodging. He led it away from Sasha and just caught the glint off a steel blade as the group he’d seen earlier was drawn in to Sasha’s cry.

Jean kept swinging clear of the titan’s arms, but it was fast. He hardly had time to adjust and he had no time to plan his next step. His jaw was clenched as he tried to get a read on the situation while keeping the titan busy. He could only keep it up for so long. When it felt like a good distance he ducked behind a tree and the titan stopped to search for him.

He was already arching back around, hoping to end this before more showed up. Sweat beaded on his forehead, his grip was tight on the hilt of his sword, he just managed to tether a line in the right position. He prepared for the strike, sucking in a breath just before diving, but he never got the chance.

A palm swung from behind him and batted him sideways. This time, Jean was snapped against a tree, his body bending painfully before he was rolling down and down, hitting the ground shoulder first.

“Jean.” Sasha’s voice was a distant cry to his ringing ears. He was seeing double and his peripherals were nothing but black. He tried to pick himself up without the world spinning out from under him. The wind had been knocked from him and he took a gasping wheeze for air.

“Get up. Get up. Get up.” She was right above him, her boots hitting the ground just ahead of him. “Are you hurt?”

“I’ll manage.” He coughed, but pushed himself to his feet. Sasha tucked her arms around him and got them both off the ground. With his added weight she couldn’t clear the branch and they crashed into it. They had to haul themselves onto it, fingernails scraping into the bark. When they were safely seated another pair of boots landed next to them.

“Are you hurt?” Mikasa helped Jean stand, taking him by the arm and lifting him effortlessly to his feet. He caught his breath and avoided her eyes.

“I’m fine.” His side was killing him, his head was throbbing, his skin felt like he’d been dragged through dirty mud—though most of it was sweat and blood mixing with the dirt, and he didn’t want to let on that he was, in any way, unable to do his job.

“Wait,” Jean leaned his weight against the tree, “Mikasa, where’s your partner?” He watched her closely.

“I sent him ahead. I came to help Sasha. Then to help you.”

Good. So far as he knew, they hadn’t lost anyone yet. He wanted it to stay that way.

“Are you okay to go?” She kept her eyes on the titans below, focused on looking down, and the delivery suggested she was asking out of necessity, rather than concern. She cared that he lived or died but…only in the way that soldiers took care of each other in battle. He wasn’t special. Not to her. Not like…

“Yeah. I’m good.” He rotated the shoulder, wincing as the joint cracked and protested the range of motion. “Are we taking these down or making a run for it?”

Mikasa looked up from her study, casting a glance over Sasha and then Jean. “We should run. Sasha’s gear is banged up and you’re almost out of blades.” She motioned to where gas was leaking quietly from the tank on Sasha’s right.

“Shit.” Jean bent down. He checked the seal, tightened the canister in place, but the leak wasn’t near the opening. She must have punctured it on a rock when she hit the ground. Damn it.

“It’ll last, right?” Sasha chewed her lip, craning her head to try and see for herself.

Jean punched down into the branch that held them, tearing a bit of skin on his knuckles. He regretted it as he tucked his fist into his shirt until the stinging subsided. Stupid move. “I don’t know.” He said, “Won’t last long, that’s for damn sure. There’s no way to know an exact time. We have to get you moving. Shit’s leaking out while we’re talking about it.”

“You stay in front of us. If you think you’re about to run out, land.” Mikasa said.

“Okay.” Sasha waited for their signal that everyone was ready to head out again. They would need to keep high in the trees to get past the titans waiting beneath them, but after that they’d have more room to move quickly.

Sasha hopped from their perch with Jean and Mikasa just behind her. With Sasha, maneuvering through the trees had been fluid, easy. With Mikasa, it was perfection. This wasn’t maneuvering with 3DMG, this was a choreographed dance, a synchronized art. They were elegant. Clean. They moved with each other and around each other, every move precise. Their timing was flawless. Jean had always figured himself pretty good with his maneuver gear, one of the best in their training class, and in this he didn’t just keep pace with Mikasa Ackerman, he excelled.

“She’s almost out.” Jean let his momentum carry him in line with Mikasa so she could hear over the wind. “She needs to land.” He moved ahead. Sasha was going to push it until it was too late. “Braus! Braus—”

The last of her gas sputtered and hissed. She began a slow arch toward the ground, falling out of a jump with no way of catching herself, but she didn’t know it yet. Her fingers tightened on the gas release.

“Mikasa.” Jean called out, but Mikasa had already altered her course. She swept up under Sasha just as the girl’s tether fell short of its mark, leaving her to hang in space. Mikasa crashed, rather than caught her and the force swung them both wide until they were hanging in open air from Mikasa’s tether. Jean pulled up beside them.

“I can carry her.” He said. They spun slowly, dangling from Mikasa’s line. “We’re almost out of here, it’s not far.” He reached out and Sasha grabbed his hand. They tried to untangle themselves from the mess of whose limbs were whose when the ground began to tremble. The leaves stirred, not rustling in the wind, but rattling and snapping free with the tremor that was getting closer and stronger.

“Hurry up.” Jean’s hand was now pinched under Sasha’s boot. They only seemed to be making the knot worse.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” Sasha was trying to get her bearings, but unless they let her drop to the ground, they had to figure this out while hanging there. The earth was shattering, each new shudder urging them, screaming that their time was limited.

In her panic, Sasha’s fingers closed on the scarf around Mikasa’s neck. Her eyes were huge, pupils dilated as she tried to climb onto Jean’s back. But it was too late, the ground broke beneath them. One tremor too many and all three fell back into a dangling tangle of frustrated limbs. Only Jean and Mikasa’s tethers kept them in the air.

The titan had reached them and Sasha’s scream rattled Jean’s ear until it hurt. He could feel Mikasa moving, her power mostly nulled by the bad angles and lack of traction, but she was fighting to rip herself free. After kicking him once, wiggling ungraciously, bending so a part of her that Jean might not ever be that close to again was pushed right up against his cheek, she finally broke free of their ball and propelled herself into the titan’s path. In the scramble the scarf had been completely ripped from Mikasa’s neck; it lingered in Sasha’s open fingers. Mikasa’s escape made it easier to get themselves situated. Jean didn’t waste time getting comfortable, he got Sasha somewhat over his shoulder and got them moving again.

“Oh…” Sasha’s voice was soft against his ear, barely heard over the roars and the beating of his own heart. Jean glanced behind, just as red fabric slipped through Sasha’s fingers. It fluttered like a torn leaf, drifting on the currents until the wind caught it and blew it away, toward the break of trees to their right. Jean tightened his hold on Sasha and turned his eyes forward. Mikasa would buy them time. He had to get Sasha out of there. They needed to meet up with the horses and she could ride on her own. Right now, he was having trouble maintaining height and speed with her weight.

“Jean.” Sasha was pointing at Mikasa. She was barreling through the trees with the titan on her heels. “She…she doesn’t look okay.”

His teeth were clenched. This was turning to hell real quick. He couldn’t go after Mikasa with Sasha on his shoulder. As soon as he’d seen the scarf float away he knew it would be bad. But he wasn’t strong enough to help everyone. He couldn’t save them both. He couldn’t do it…

“Let me go.” Sasha shook him, her voice insistent in his ear.

“Are you crazy? You can’t outrun it.” He was trying to keep an eye out for Mikasa. Her body was flinging recklessly through the trees. She cleaved through thin branches. Cut down anything in her path as her head swiveled in a desperate search. Nothing about her behavior suggested she was trying to avoid the titan or that she even cared it was after her.

“I don’t have to outrun it. I just have to get outside the trees, right? They’re all waiting out there. Let me run. The titan’s after Mikasa. You have to help her.”

Jean stopped on a low branch, well within grabbing distance. He tried to catch his breath. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah. I…” She was on her own feet now, jogging in place. “I can do it. I’m a fast sprinter.”

Jean watched the titan’s hand catch Mikasa’s leg, jarring her out of her arc and sending her spinning. She just managed to correct herself and get out of reach.

He tore both hands through his hair, pulling it up in his fist. “Sasha, there is no guarantee they’re even waiting for us. No guarantee there aren’t more titans waiting outside the perimeter.” He shook his head. “I can’t. I can’t send you out there like that.” Sasha was defenseless. Without her gear she had no chance if she ran into a titan. Mikasa’s gear was still working. She could defend herself. His priority had to be Sasha.

“I’m going.” She said with a faint smile. “I’ll just imagine there’s food waiting for me.”

“No. I’m taking you. Mikasa can…”

Sasha put a hand firmly on his shoulder and gestured toward the chaos. “She isn’t.”

Sasha jumped down, rolling into the fall and then took off at a sprint. The end of the woods wasn’t far and…if there was any luck at all left in the world there would be a full squad waiting for her. He didn’t have the time to rethink. He needed to act on what he was given. He went for Mikasa.

She evaded him. Moving around him as easily as she did the trees.

“Mikasa.” His voice was loud and desperate, carrying over the noise. There was a titan behind them. He was banged all to hell. He needed her safe. “You have to leave it, Mikasa.”

Her eyes were on him like daggers. She didn’t respond. She just kept searching. She was oblivious to the titan and oblivious to him. Jean cursed and went after her. Her movements were erratic, but timing it about right, he was able to come up behind her and catch her by the waist. He got her to land with him high in the canopy, but she twisted out of his arms the instant their boots hit. She moved with a single purpose and the look in her eye was worse than emotionless. Mikasa was singularly driven by one thing, nothing else mattered. He knew it. This was so much worse than he anticipated.

He caught her wrist before she could leave and he had to dodge her fist, barely missing his eye.

“You’re going to get yourself killed.”

“You don’t understand.” She seethed. Her eyes were wide and manic. Her fingers went up to the grasp the air at the base of her neck, feather touches like she couldn’t fathom that there was nothing there, like she needed to check just one more time.

“Yeah, I do.” She broke his hold on her and twirled before he could counter so that her elbow cracked the side of his head. Jean’s brain rattled and he tensed with the ringing peel of pain, but he didn’t let her get far. He caught her again. He was no good at this close combat stuff. He probably should have paid attention to this part of training, but it had seemed pointless back then. He got a hand on her forearm and tried to keep his grip light, but she was struggling like a pinned animal. “Mikasa, I get it. You don’t feel safe without it. You need it.”

She hesitated. Her thrashing calmed.

He held up a steadying hand, chancing to continue. “In all the time I’ve known you, I’ve never seen you without it.” He was poised to act if she lashed out, but she was just staring into space, away from him. “It’s…obviously it’s really special to you.”

“Very.” She snapped, but she was still.

“I know.” He released a breath. The tree swayed slightly, but they were so high up it was easy to tune out the world. “But it’s not worth your life. Nothing is worth your life.”

“But Eren…”

Jean’s mouth fell open. He wasn’t sure if his heart could sink any lower than it just had. That name was crushing, devastating. Because he realized why she loved that damn scarf so damn much. He stood with her, high above the ground, and swallowed past the hollow cavern that’d just opened in his chest. He shook the start of tears away. He wasn’t going to fucking _cry_ about this. Not now. It was too much. He’d spent too much adrenaline, too many close calls, too many endorphins trying to ease his pain.

“You think…” he couldn’t get it out. He shook his head, steeled himself, started over. “You think Eren wants you risking your life right now? Mikasa, he’d tell you exactly the same thing.” His will was slipping from him, leaking out of the puncture reality had left behind. He only held on because he could see her sinking. He couldn’t fail her now. He could keep his heart from falling to pieces, if only because it was best for her.

She was still frozen in his arms, allowing him to hold her or not realizing that he still was. Jean let his grip loosen. He felt her tense, but she didn’t move. “Look…”

He was at a loss. She was broken. If he thought his stupid emotions had been devastated, he couldn’t imagine…he’d been an idiot. This wasn’t about him.

What did he say? What could he say? The war raged on beneath their feet, but it was like nothing existed outside of the space they shared.

Jean stabbed his sword into the bark so that it stood on its own and freed his hands. Somehow in catching her, he’d managed to avoid cutting either of them.

He moved his gear, twisting his belt so he could see it clearly. A thin wire was looped near the one end, it was only used for when they stored the gear away. He wouldn’t miss it now. He found the soldered edge where it was held together and began to twist. It broke free eventually, not before leaving a few red lines in his fingers. He kept his focus on his hands, because he couldn’t meet her eyes yet. The iron twine was a good size, he held it up and examined it. It was pliable, easily shaped. He started twisting it around one of his fingers. Then he twined the coils together so they held their shape. He didn’t look up as he reached for her hand. He heard her grunt with suspicion, but he ignored it.

“It’s not the same thing.” His hands shook. He held her by the palm, catching just how dirty their hands had become, the wrinkles in their hands caked over with dirt. “I just…” He swallowed and held up the ring of frayed metal. He slid it onto her index finger, lingering as it settled into place. “I’m not Eren. And…and I know this is not the same thing.” His eyes were locked on their hands, both of his clinging to hers, thumbs pressing hard into her palm. “But this…this is from me to you. Let it…just let it remind you that I’m here with you. Together we can make it out of here.” He lowered his head. “Cause we have to keep fighting. We have to keep fighting, Mikasa—”

Her hand slipped away, cutting him off. He looked up, sure he’d done the wrong thing. He’d been so caught up in what he was saying, it took him a second to remember where they were. Mikasa looked calm. Whatever he said must have worked. It was oddly thrilling. He didn’t care what it was or how, just knowing he’d found the right words was enough.

“Are you ready?”

Jean nodded. He pulled his sword free and prepared to jump. He saw the ring on her finger and he grinned. In his heart, he knew there would come a time, maybe that same day or maybe in two, when she would remove it. He’d look at her hand and there’d be nothing there. It was just a stupid piece of metal. It was probably uncomfortable to wear. And he knew that it would never mean as much because it had come from him. But until he looked at her hand to find it gone, he would continue to be elated. It was setting himself up for pain because when he did find her finger bare…it would shatter what was left of him. But until then…until then…he could be fucking happy, damn it.


End file.
